First Lady

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

It took nine races for SLEWFOUNDMONEY (Seeking the Gold) to break her maiden

and another two tries for the dark bay to pass her first-level allowance

condition. During that time, she was posting sub-par numbers for conditioner

Bill Mott. Enter Marty Wolfson, who took over training duties on the

five-year-old mare last year and switched her from route races on turf and

synthetic tracks to sprints on dirt.

Suddenly, Slewfoundmoney blossomed into a stakes-caliber filly, capturing the

six-furlong Dolly Jo S. by 4 1/2 lengths while earning a career-best 101 BRIS

Speed figure. She duplicated that number last out in the one-mile Top Flight H.

(G2), just missing by three parts of a length after leading in the stretch.

Slewfoundmoney returns on Sunday in the $100,000 First Lady H. (G3) at

Gulfstream Park and won't be facing the same class she did in the Top Flight.

The cutback to six furlongs should also help her chances, and we're tabbing the

mare to continue her forward progression all the way to the First Lady winner's

circle. Edgar Prado picks up riding duties.

ANY LIMIT (Limit Out) is a tough competitor when she's on her game, but was

taken out of her comfort level in her past two races. The Allen Jerkens charge

captured the First Flight H. (G2) and Honorable Miss H. (G2) in succession last

season while posting a 102 Speed rating for the latter event. However, she

didn't take to the synthetic in her next one at Keeneland, running sixth in a

Grade 3 at that venue, and appeared to be stretched out too far in the mile Top

Flight last out. The bay mare returns in the First Lady off that latter event

and brings a winning record at both the track and distance into her six-year-old

bow. Cornelio Velasquez will be a familiar presence in the saddle, and Any Limit

could get back to her winning ways here.

GAME FACE (Menifee) raced sporadically last year, taking the Old Hat S. (G2)

by seven lengths in January, reappearing two months later to be second in the

Davona Dale S. (G2), and then another couple months passed before her victory in

the La Troienne S. (G3). The Todd Pletcher trainee was last seen taking an

allowance/optional claimer at Churchill Downs, but as previously noted layoffs

don't seem to bother this chestnut filly. The four-year-old will be tough to

hold back in her seasonal debut but might not offer much value based on past

accomplishments, so we'll just include her in the exotics. John Velazquez has

the call.

J Z WARRIOR (Harlan's Holiday) recorded easy wins in the Light Hearted S. and

House Party S. in her 2008 finales, but never really showed that level of

competitiveness in her prior races. She does love the distance, though, racking

up four wins and a second from six tries at three-quarters. If the bay miss can

duplicate anything resembling her past two, she'll have a shot in the top three

under Joe Bravo. AWSUGAHNOW (Forestry) probably can't compete against the best

in this field, but the Ian Wilkes charge might pick up a share based on her

liking for six furlongs (7-2-2-1) and the track (4-0-2-1). She rounded out her

four-year-old campaign with a pair of stakes wins and a close second against

allowance/optional claiming rivals, so consider this one for a check with Julien

Leparoux aboard.

ORINOQUIA (Whywhywhy) is another who appears to like the First Lady distance

(8-4-2-0), but her numbers don't offer much hope that she'll be able to keep up

with these. We'll let her beat us. SARATOGA TANGO (Successful Appeal) also

doesn't look fast enough for this field. FREEDOM AFLEET (Northern Afleet)

couldn't compete against lesser stakes rivals. We can't recommend.